Carmen at The Met

Carmen. DVD. 2010. Metropolitan Opera. Production: Richard Eyre. Conductor: Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Cast: Elina Garanca (Carmen), Roberto Alagna (Don J), Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Escamillo), Barbara Frittoli (Micaela).

Last time The New York Metropolitan Opera presented a new production of Carmen was in 1997, directed by Zeffirelli with Waltraud Meier as Carmen ("it was the most horrible time in my career"), and Angela Gheorghiu ("that wig goes on stage with or without you") as Micäela. This time around, Angela Gheorghiu was originally scheduled as Carmen, but withdrew allegedly due to private problems - i.e. her separation from husband Roberto Alagna - as of now (2012) they seem to be together again though. However, so-called "dramatic issues" also played a part in her cancellation. Understandably so. As Carmen you´d need a vocal heft, particularly in the lower register, that Gheorghiu simply does not have and furthermore in a house the size of the Met..not an obvious recipe for success, I´d say.

The current production opened on New Years Eve 2009, directed by Richard Eyre, who chose to update the story to the 1930 Spanish Civil War, thus emphasizing the political context of the piece - i.e. underlining the inherent conflicts between soldiers and townspeople. The sets are relatively simple and the story is told in a straight-forward manner. Perhaps not overly exiting or inventive, but a staging which will satisfy most audiences, not an unimportant consideration for an production which is supposed to fill the house regularly with everchanging cast members for the next 10+ years.
The replacement for Angela Gheorghiu was Elina Garanca, a vocally superb, though cool Carmen. There are simply no other mezzo-soprano today with the same beautiful even tone throughout the entire register. At no point was she strained. Some may lack a bit of wildness and spontaneity, but this is just not Garanca´s style. Garanca portraits a woman in the 1930´s, who is definitely not a vamp, but a calculating woman. As such it is difficult to fault her something. Those wanting more wildness may look forward to seeing Anita Rachvelishvili when she appears in the same production in the 2012-13 season.

As for Roberto Alagna, he really does seem to have a vocal renaissance in these years. Don José is a good part for him. If I sound less than completely enthusiastic it is simply that I have never really taken to Alagna´s style. But he does what he always has been doing, and better than in a long time as well.
Barbara Frittoli´s vibrato unfortunately has widened quite a bit the last 4-5 years, but her appearance as Micaëla is wonderful. Teddy Tahu Rhodes replacing an ill Mariusz Kwiecien with three hours notice, looks great, but vocally he does not really have the vocal qualities of a great Escamillo.
Points to Keith Miller as well for excellent characterization as Zuniga.

Yannick Nezet-Seguin is repeatedly mentioned as one of the favourites to take over after James Levine, when the latter officially resigns (these years he is barely conducting due to protracted health problems). And why not? He is a fine conductor, delivering a colourful and dynamic interpretation of the score.

For many, this could be a first choice. Alternatively, for a bit more sparkle between the protagonists, look for Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Caterina Antonacci´s 2006 version from London.


Final scene:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):


Elina Garanca: 5
Roberto Alagna: 4
Teddy Tahu Rhodes: 3
Barbara Frittoli: 3


Richard Eyre: 3
Yannick Nezet Seguin: 4-5


Overall impression: 4

adriana lecouvreur with angela gheorghiu and jonas kaufmann

Adriana Lecouvreur. DVD. London Royal Opera House 2010. Production: David McVicar. Conductor: Mark Elder. Cast: Angela Gheorghiu (Adriana), Jonas Kaufmann (Maurizio), Olga Borodina (La principessa di Bouillon), Alessandro Corbelli (Michonnet), David Soar (Quinault), Iain Paton (Poisson), Janis Kelly (Mademoiselle Jouvenot), Sarah Castle (Mademoiselle Dangeville), Maurizio Muraro (Principe di Bouillon), Bonaventura Bottone (Abbé de Chazeuil).

When David McVicar´s new production of Adriana Lecouvreur opened in 2010 at the London Royal Opera, a substantial part of the criticism seemed to focus on the qualities of Cilea´s work, expressing disappointment that Adriana Lecouvreur is not that hidden master-piece that some, for inexplicably reasons, thought it was. Since Adriana Lecouvreur premiered in 1902 it has been in and out of favour (mostly out though), depending mainly on the desires of one the days great sopranos to take on the title role. A title role famous for both dramatic demands as well as a reasonably low tessitura, making it ideal for divas nearing retirement.
Now, thus, Angela Gheorghiu has been a driving  force behind this production and what a pleasure it is to hear a voice still in it´s  prime for this part. And as the diva on stage, she seems more or less to play herself - as always one might say - but here, it really does suit the role almost to perfection. Agreed, the vocal dramatic demands of the role may somewhat exceed her capacity, but personally, it is something I care very little about in a production, where she embodies the character to a greater degree than almost everything else she has done on stage.
And then there is Jonas Kaufmann as Maurizio and he is quite simply perfect, playing what he does best: The ultimate romantic hero.

The third key component to this DVD, which I honestly believe will not be bettered in my lifetime, is David McVicar, creating a quite traditional production, centered around a baroque theater. No advanced interpretations here, but in this case this is exactly what this verismo thriller needs: Beautiful sets, straight-forward story-line and...perhaps most importantly, detailed direction of the singers. Even an infamous non-actress as Olga Borodina seems well into her character as well as still being vocally in her prime. Particularly the character of Maurizio is well developed from McVicar: Perhaps not at all the perfect romantic hero you´d initially thought he was, but one whom you may suspect of a second agenda. And then the always reliable Alessandro Corbelli - a real find as Michonnet.

Mark Elder does what he can. Admittedly Cilea was not a great orchestrator, but if one takes the work at face value, this DVD is very entertaining.

Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann in Act 2:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3= average):

Angela Gheorgiu: 4-5
Jonas Kaufmann: 5
Olga Borodina: 4
Alessandro Corbelli: 5

David McVicars production: 5
Mark Elder: 4

Overall impression: 5

elza van den heever

ELZA VAN DEN HEEVER

Nationality: South African.
Born: 1979, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Education and early career in brief: San Francisco Conservatory of Music. San Francisco Opera young artists programme. From 2008 ensemble member at the Frankfurt Opera.
Voice: Lyric-dramatic soprano.Originally trained as a mezzo-soprano
Main repertoire includes: Donna Anna (Don G), Elsa (Lohengrin), Elisabetta (Don Carlos)
Main events until now: Donna Anna (San Francisco - main stage opera debut in 2007), Elsa (Lohengrin) in Munich, Fiordiligi (Cosí fan tutte) at Paris-Bastille. Many roles (Elsa, Desdemona, Elisabetta (Don C) in Frankfurt. Metropolitan Opera debut in Maria Stuarda as Elisabetta ( "a notable debut") in January 2013.
Upcoming major events: Awaiting release of 2013-14 opera house schedules.
Future performances here

Selected links:

2009 interview with Elza van den Heever on her career and life
2010 interview with Elza van den Heever on her career and life.
Another 2010 interview
2012 interview with Elza van den Heever about working at The Met.
2013 feature by New York Times

2010 San Francisco Review (Vier letzte lieder)

Elettra (Idomeneo) - D´Oreste d´Ajace:

Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda) - confrontation scene with Joyce DiDonato, Metropolitan Opera, 2013:

Jonas Kaufmann, Placido Domingo, Bryan Hymel and Aeneas

Aneas, or Enée in French, was a hugely challenging role, one of the biggest challenges in my career. It was a special role for a special occasion, the centenary of the Met in 1983. I decided to do it and although I harbored some doubts until the last moment, I am very happy with the result..

The reason this part is considered one of the sacred monsters of the tenor repertoire is its lenght and tessitura. The latter is consistently high and often hovers on the passaggio. You also have some very strenous high notes to sing...

In our case almost everyone was satisfied, except for some critics who carped at the fact that I transposed the high C and the last few bars of Aneas´ last aria, the Farewell Aria... the fact that that´s all they found to say about it made me sick. So I thought, if that´s all they feel I have to offer, let them have other tenors! So I sang a few more performances and then withdrew..I have not sung it since

Thus, Plácido Domingo´s experience with Aeneas from Les Troyens, available on DVD as well.
 
It is exactly because of the very high tessitura of the part, that I was very surprised to see Jonas Kaufmann decide to take it on for the upcoming (June-July 2012) production of Les Troyens at the London Royal Opera. I am equally not at all surprised that he has now cancelled, though the reason for the cancellation is stated as tracheitis, which I have no reason to doubt. However, that said, the tessitura of Aeneas really is very high for him and he´d definitely have to be in top shape to do it.

Jonas Kaufmann will be replaced by Bryan Hymel, who sang Aeneas in Pierre Audi´s 2010 Amsterdam production.
 
Bryan Hymel in "Nuit d´Ivresse" (with Yvonne Naef), Amsterdam 2010:
 

And Placido Domingo with the same aria (and Tatiana Troyanos), The Met 1983:

Bayreuth Lohengrin - A rat experiment

Lohengrin, DVD. Bayreuth 2011. Production: Hans Neuenfels. Conductor: Andris Nelsenos. Cast: Klaus Florian Vogt (Lohengrin), Georg Zeppenfeld (Heinrich der Vogler), Annette Dasch (Elsa von Brabant), Jukka Rasilainen (Friedrich von Telramund), Petra Lang (Ortrud), Samuel Youn (Der Heerrufer des Königs).

Lohengrin as a laboratory rat experiment. Not as silly as it may sound. In fact, director Hans Neuenfels has created a vastly interesting as well as moving production of Lohengrin – conceptually by far the most interesting available on DVD and probably the overall most interesting I have yet seen.

We are inside a white laboratory. The people are rats. The protagonists seem to be super-rats. Or perhaps not all of them. Lohengrin, who struggles in vain to enter the lab during the vorspiel, and Telramund, whose narration is accompanied by a projection of “wahrheit” may have be placed in the lab as part of the experiment to see what reactions they provoke. Or maybe not. Because nothing is entirely clear in this challenging production. The lab technicians seem to be always in control, entering and exiting the laboratory manipulating with the rats.
Black-white, action-reaction, the people are rats and they are followers. And they chose to follow Lohengrin, gradually changing their rat-like appearance into human shape. And who should Elsa follow? Brought in by the rats, covered in arrows, she takes shape according to her surroundings – rats, swan, Lohengrin. Love is not an ingredience in this experiment.
A tilted wagon, a dead horse, rats escapint with gold bars and money: Ortrud and Telramund are caught by the rats when trying to escape.  But why exactly Telramud becomes a rat after his failed attempt to kill Lohengrin is less clear to me. And who is this Schützer von Braband? An embryon capping his umbilical chord. As a reaction to the experiment, perhaps?

Lohengrin as an experiment of how we react to authorities. Not at all uninterersting, as a matter of fact probably the conceptually most interesting Lohengrin I have seen to date as it captures the primitive action-reaction, hero-antihero as well as black-white patterns somehow inherent in the plot. The sets are aesthetic, the colours are clear and beautiful. The answers are by no means obvious and this multilayered production probably requires repeated viewings by most to capture the essence. Whatever that may be perceived to be.

When the production opened in 2009 Jonas Kaufmann was Lohengrin. In 2010 Klaus Florian Vogt took over the role and this is thus his second Lohengrin on DVD. With clear ringing notes Klaus Florian Vogt is superb, a “tenorial” Lohengrin far from the sound we have been used to from Plácido Domingo as well as Jonas Kaufmann, and both vocally and physically perfectly suited to this production. He may even have lost some of his eeriness these past few years giving place for a rather human interpretation.

Unfortunately Annette Dasch is by no means a first-rate Elsa. Unable to sustain a legato line, often out of breath, shrill and with no bloom and warmth in her tone. That she looks fabulous capturing the essence of eery passivity that Neuenfels undoubtedly wanted does unfortunately not outweigh her vocal short-comings.

As Telramund Jukka Rasilainen has the appearance but not quite the voice, while Petra Lang is a better Ortrud than almost anyone else I can think of today.

Accompanied by a swift and spirited performance from Andris Nelsons, this DVD is a must for those interested in contemporary performances of Richard Wagner´s work. Though for those less familiar with the work probably Lehnhoff´s aesthetic, rather straight-forward production from 2006 may be an all-round better choice. Or even the Claudio Abbado conducted 1990 production from Vienna - visually dreary but musically superb.

Elsa´s call and the appearance of the Swan:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Klaus Florian Vogt: 5
Annette Dasch: 2
Petra Lang: 4
Jukka Rasilainen: 4
Georg Zeppenfeld: 4

Andris Nelsons: 4
Neuenfels production: 5

Overall impression: 4

patricia petibon as lulu in overstuffed production

Lulu. DVD. Barcelona Liceu 2010. Director: Olivier Py. Conductor: Michael Boder. Cast: Patricia Petibon (Lulu), Ashley Holland (Dr Schön), Paul Groves (Alwa), Countess Geschwits (Julia Juon), Franz Grundheber (Schigolch), Will Hartmann (Der Maler).

I remember all sorts of pre-opening hype when this Lulu production originally was seen in Geneva in 2010, attached with a warning for those under 16. Not unexpectedly, the production really does not live up to all this hype. Yes there is (semi)-nudity as well as prostitutes and weird sex scenes, but most of all Olivier Py has created a somewhat over-stuffed production.


The overstuffing consisting mainly of the confusing background, resembling a look at a seedy neighbourhood complete with prostitutes in action, a Parisian wheel and flashing signs reading the likes of “mein Herz ist schwer”, “I hate sex”, “sexe”, “comme toujours”. The action, then takes place in front of this colourful tableau where additional colours, disguises etc. are added.

Visually it is quite arresting. Especially as the DVD camera angles change intermittently and you thus zoom in on various aspects of this spectacle. But as to Olivier Py´s take on the story? What is his take on Lulu? What does he want to tell us? Apart from Lulu being a woman of changing shapes, that is. That I am not sure.

In many ways, Patricia Petibon is a wonderful Lulu. Her acting is stunning and she has a special dignity and allure, which is quite rare and makes ones eyes glued to her. Vocally. she does seem to be stretched out rather thinly. While her middle register seem rather solid, in the high register many notes comes out close to screening.

Ashley Holland is a convincing Dr. Schön, Julia Juon very good as Countess Geschwitz, and also Franz Grundheber as well as Will Hartmann convinces in minor parts. Only occasionally did Paul Groves seem overparted as Alwa.

As for the orchestra, Michael Boder really does not make them their best. His reading of the score fails to draw out the melodies and themes that glue this piece together. Vastly inferior to both Andrew Davis on the previous Glyndebourne DVD as well as Antonio Pappano on the new DVD from Covent Garden. Another alternative could be the previous Zurich Opera production, which however uses the two-act version and not Cerha´s instrumentation (staged first 1979 in Paris) used here.

Personally, I´d probably still go for the Glyndebourne DVD, however none of the available versions are bad options, depending on personal preferences.

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Patricia Petibon: 4
Ashley Holland: 3-4
Julia Juon: 4

Olivier Py´s production: 3-4
Michael Boder: 2

Overall impression: 3

fanciulla del west

Fanciulla del West. DVD. Nederlanse Opera 2009. Production: Nikolaus Lehnhoff. Conductor: Carlo Rizzi. Cast: Eva-Maria Westbroek (Minnie), Lucio Gallo (Jack Rance), Zoran Todorovich (Dick Johnson)

Director Nikolaus Lehnhoff: “The American Way of Life, lightly satirised, lies at the heart of our production: it is an adventure that takes place somewhere between Wall Street and Hollywood”.

Essentially, I´d agree with his characterization, though in several scenes I´d substitute “lightly satirised” with “quite heavily satirized”: The exaggerated use of money, just to mention one example, which rain on Dick Johnson and Minnie, when they finally depart in search of a better life. Minnie´s home in a pink trailer is not exactly underplayed either. But essentially, the core of the opera remains that of Puccini´s initial intentions: It is still about Minnie and her search for love.

The audience applauded the rather weird third act sets of a car park cemetery (do we really do this in Europe?) where Eva-Maria Westbroek descended through a long flight of stairs like a glamorous Hollywood star of the 1930´s. According to Eva-Maria Westbroek, this is her favourite role. And really, this evening was Eva-Maria Westbroeks show. With wonderful sensitivity and an immensely touching stage presence it is hard to imagine a better Minnie. I have heard say that her high notes do not bloom, but really, the notes are they are all there, secure and on pitch as well. Combined with a wonderful vocal flexibility, just right for Puccini.

None of the men reached that level, though both Zoran Todovich and Lucio Gallo look their parts and act convincingly, however slightly vocally overparted.

Act two - in Minnie´s trailer:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):


Eva-Maria Westbroek: 5
Zoran Todorovich: 3-4
Lucio Gallo: 3-4


Carlo Rizzi: 3-4
Nikolaus Lehnhoff´s production: 4-5

Overall impression: 4

Nikolaus Lehnhoff

NIKOLAUS LEHNHOFF

German opera director. Born 1939 in Hannover. Studied theater and art in Munich and was Dr. Phil. in 1962. For the next 10 years he was (the last) assistant to Wieland Wagner in Bayreuth and after Wagners death assistant at the Metropolitan Opera.

Directorial approach: Simplistic, aesthetic often with contrasting colors and dominating geometric lines. Abstract and classic in the outlook, at times occasionally static, the inspiration from Wieland Wagner shines through.

Major achievements in opera: Opera debut (and breakthrough) 1972 with Die Frau Ohne Schatten in Paris (with Karl Böhm). From then on he continued to stage his production in most major houses, such as the Nibelungen Ring 1983-5 in San Francisco and 1987 in Munich.
Closely associated with Glyndebourne for more than two decades he was important in the Janacek revival with stagings of Katia, Jenufa and Makropolous Case in the beginning of the 1990´s. Salzburg debut 1990 with Idomeneo
He has never been a fully accepted "member" of the German Regietheater school, perhaps due to the timelessness of many or his works.
Throughout his career he has had a close artistic collaboration with Anja Silja.


NIKOLAUS LEHNHOFF - SELECTED PRODUCTIONS

His Parsifal production (on DVD from Baden-Baden 2004) takes place in a post-nuclear apocalyptic wasterland, is widely reknown and has been seen in several houses (San Francisco, Chicago, London, Baden-Baden, Barcelona):

Die Gezeichneten, from Salzburg in 2005. Stunningly beautiful and one of his best stagings:

Excerpt from Lehnhoffs San Francisco Nibelungen Ring premiered 1983, here Götterdämmerung 1995:

Tristan and Isolde, the first Wagner production ever to be staged in Glyndebourne in 2003 was widely acclaimed, on DVD as well:

NIKOLAUS LEHNHOFF ON DVD

Jenufa, Glyndebourne 1988
Der Prinz von Homberg, Bavarian State Opera 1994
Vec Makropoulos, Glyndebourne 1995
Eugene Onegin, Baden-Baden 1998
Tosca, Nederlanse Opera 1998
Katia Kabanova, Glyndebourne 2002
Parsifal, Baden-Baden 2004
Die Gezeichneten, Salzburg 2005
Lohengrin, Baden-Baden 2006
Tristan and Isolde, Glyndebourne 2007
Boulevard Solitude, Barcelona 2007
Rigoletto, Dresden Semperoper 2008
Tannhäuser, Baden-Baden 2008
Dialogue des Carmelites, Hamburg 2008
Fanciulla del West, Amsterdam 2009
Elektra, Salzburg 2010
Salome, Baden-Baden 2011

LEHNHOFF - LIVE PERFORMANCES REVIEWED BY MOSTLY OPERA

None at the moment.

LEHNHOFF - LINKS

Current productions by Niklaus Lehnhoff

Turandot re-DVD

Turandot. DVD. Metropolitan Opera 2009. Production: Franco Zeffirelli. Conductor: Andris Nelsons. Cast: Maria Guleghina (Turandot), Marina Poplavskaya (Liu), Marcello Giordani (Calaf), Samuel Ramey (Timur).

As Metropolitan HD transmissions often resulting in DVD releases, and as several HD transmitted operas already have been released on DVD, some of the new DVDs from the Metropolitan Opera feature productions already available on DVD. They did it with Manon Lescaut for no obvious reason and now again for this Turandot, again for no obvious reason. Last time around on DVD, the highlights were James Levine and Plácido Domingo. This time, the highlights are Andris Nelsons and Marina Poplavskaya.

Though somewhat dusty this is by far not among the worst of Zeffirelli´s Metropolitan Opera stagings, with quite spectacular sets for the first two acts, as I also commented in my review of the previous DVD of this production.

Maria Guleghina, has stage present and strong middle range, but entirely lacks the shining top of Lise Lindström, who in fact made her Metropolitan Opera debut in this run of Turandot, but unfortunately did not perform in the HD transmission, which eventually became this DVD release. And while Marina Poplavskaya does not have the biggest voice, she is a wonderfully moving Liu on stage. And while Marcello Giordano, as usual I´d almost say, hits the notes, the reason he is not a household name is clear: Lack of X-factor.

Interestingly, the Metropolitan Opera comprimario veteran Charles Anthony, who just died earlier this year was the Emperor, in which was his last run of performances at the Met after 57 years and more than 2900 appearances. During the intermission interview he named the debuts of Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price amongst his biggest experiences at his Met career.

Of Samuel Ramey, I´ll only say that he was amongst the very greatest basso cantantes of the century, but if he intends younger audiences to remember this, now is the time to retire.

Video clip of most of Act 2: Riddle scene to Liu´s death:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):


Maria Guleghina: 3
Marcello Giordani: 3
Marina Poplavskaya: 4
Samuel Ramey: 2


Zeffirelli´s staging: 3
Andris Nelsons: 4


Overall impression: 3

Rienzi

Rienzi. DVD. 2009. Deutsche Oper Berlin. Production: Stölzl. Conductor: Sebastian Lang-Lessing. Cast: Torsten Kerl (Rienzi), Camilla Nylund (Irene), Kate Aldrich (Adriano)

A stunning production of a less than stunning work, one might say. Even Richard Wagner himself saw Rienzi as a youthful experiment, not worthy of performing in Bayreuth. And he was right of course. While many elements in both the libretto and music points forward, especially to Lohengrin, the history of the rise and fall of the Roman Tribune Rienzi in itself is just a bit too disorganized, dramatically as well as musically.

This Deutsche Oper production by Philipp Stölzl is even more stunning than his staging of Benvenuto Cellini some years ago in Salzburg.

By pseudo-historic video footage in the style of Riefenstahl´s propaganda films, Stölzl has created the universal dictator – however with an abundance of references to Adolf Hitler, to begin with the ouverture where we see the general Rienzi with imperialistic attitude surveying the mountains in a setting close to Berghof and ending with Rienzi´s downfall in a subterranean bunker.  The white angular R seen on helmets, banners and clothes of course represents Rienzi . With an ever so slight irony seen throughout the production as well: They did not use real historic footage, but rather stylish caricatures.

But what a streamlined production and what a good decision of the production team to shorten the opera to a little more than 2 hours (unabridged it would have been Wagner´s longest opera).

Torsten Kerl´s interpretation of Rienzi is almost uncanny and very believable and Camilla Nylund is becoming more and more mature voiced as the “heidi”–type sister Irene, with clear incestuous references. In contrast Kate Aldrich is a youthful and well-sung, though not large-voiced Adriano, in a trouser role not common for Richard Wagner.

I cannot imagine a better production of this opera.

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Torsten Kerl: 4
Camilla Nylund: 4
Kate Aldrich: 4

Lang-Lessing: 4

Philipp Stölzl: 5

Overall impression: 5